Looking at the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen, the debate of global warming is being distorted by political hot air.

At issue is whether or not a mandate to cap greenhouse gases will somehow save the planet for generations to come. The EPA has declared carbon dioxide a threat to public health and the environment, but failed to back it up with science. Let’s be honest; this was a political decision, not a scientific breakthrough.

At risk are our jobs, food supply and economic stability. What should outrage Americans is the cost of such regulation will be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher grocery prices, fuel costs and utility bills. Think of it as one large energy tax that will put a freeze on our economy.

Proponents of cap and trade legislation and carbon dioxide regulation argue that aggressive global policing of greenhouse gases is needed as soon as possible to protect future generations of humankind from the increasing and imminent threat of climate change and global warming.

They also envision a harmonious model of fairness and cooperation among the world’s industrialized powerhouses so that the burden of cap and trade implementation is shared equally across the board. But with developing nations continuing to press for exemptions to regulation and huge financial payouts to mitigate the effects of global warming, the United States literally cannot afford to meet the goals the United Nations and EPA are pushing.

With the recent “Climategate” scandal showing science can be cooked, we must look at the facts surrounding climate change and CO2 regulation. Political agendas are driving the greenhouse gas regulations that will increase production costs, put sectors of our economy out of business and cripple the ability of the farmers and ranchers of our state and nation to continue producing the most reliable and safest food supply in the world.

I strongly support environmental stewardship based on clearly defined scientific principles – not pie-in-the-sky political idealism that has no real world connection to the struggles of hardworking American families.

I’m proud that Texas leads the nation in the production of cattle, cotton, hay, sheep, wool, goats, mohair and horses. Texas also is among the leading states in the production of citrus, vegetables, poultry products, sorghum, wheat and rice. Our $103 billion agriculture economy feeds and clothes hundreds of millions of Texans, Americans and people around the globe. But if climate regulations are put into place, farmers and ranchers will be driven out of business due to increased energy, transportation and fertilizer prices; carbon offset practices will reduce food supply; and food expenses will consume a larger percentage of your budget.

Our nation is witnessing an insatiable, overreaching appetite of federal authority, and this threatens the very ideals that make our country great. America is built on a pioneer spirit where independence, self-preservation and competition are applauded and celebrated – not suppressed, stifled and sold out.

Have we become so consumed with change that we have allowed policy debates to be driven not by whether or not it will cost Americans, but by how much that change will cost?

Now is the time for Americans to cap our federal government from this perilous policy pathway. Otherwise, they will trade away our economic prosperity.